Skype founders 'to launch Spotify killer'

As the expensive furniture of their most recent flop startup Joost finds new owners, the founders of Kazaa and Skype are reported to be preparing their next venture.

According to reports, Rdio is a subscription music service funded by Atomico Ventures, the investment company founded by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis.

It's all a bit vague, but streaming, sharing and locker services are mentioned. It'll have real money coming in from the start, though, being subscription based. That's where Rhapsody started from, and where Spotify is heading. The latter is turning away new UK signups because of high supply costs.

It'll be joined by social network MOG, which is to charge $5 a month for access to a catalogue of five million songs from Thanksgiving Day.

You may have noticed the music business moves very slowly in one direction. First DRM was going to save it, then mobile. Then ad-supported music. Now it's subscription services. ®